Meat quality of light lambs is more affected by the dam's feeding system during lactation than by the inclusion of quebracho in the fattening concentrate1

Abstract

The inclusion of natural antioxidants in the diet, through fresh forages or condensed tannins, might prolong meat shelf life and modify the meat quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the dam's feeding system during lactation and the inclusion of quebracho in the fattening concentrate of male lambs on meat color, chemical composition, and lipid oxidation. Dams and their suckling lambs were fed indoors or allowed to graze on alfalfa or sainfoin until lambs reached 42 d old. Thereafter, the weaned lambs were fed concentrates with 5% quebracho or without quebracho until reaching 22 to 24 kg BW. Meat of suckling lambs from dam's fed indoors (Indoor lambs) presented greater intramuscular fat content and lower α-tocopherol content than meat of suckling lambs from dam's fed Alfalfa (Alfalfa lambs) and Sainfoin (Sainfoin lambs; < 0.01), independent of the fattening diet. Regarding meat color of longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle, on average, Indoor lambs' meat presented greater lightness, yellowness, and hue angle values than Alfalfa and Sainfoin lambs' meat ( < 0.05). The redness was affected by the interaction between the feeding system during lactation and the time of storage, but, on average, Alfalfa and Sainfoin lambs had greater redness than Indoor lambs ( < 0.05). The lipid oxidation from 5 to 14 d of meat display time observed for Sainfoin lambs was lower than that for Indoor lambs ( < 0.05). The intramuscular fatty acid profile of meat from the Sainfoin and Alfalfa lambs met particularly well the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recommendation for human health, compared that of meat from the Indoor lambs. The dietary inclusion of quebracho during fattening modified meat α-tocopherol content, oxymyoglobin levels after 8 d of storage, and fatty acid profiles. In conclusion, the results indicate higher importance of the diet during suckling than during the subsequent fattening period on meat quality parameters such as color, lipid oxidation, and fatty acid profile. Dams grazing Sainfoin provide a more stable lamb meat, and it would be cheaper to feed the dams with fresh forages with a high α-tocopherol content than supplementing the concentrate of the lambs with synthetic α-tocopherol.

Meat quality, fatty acids, volatile compounds, and antioxidant properties of lambs fed pasture versus mixed diet

“…Thus, mixed diets of lamb meat should deposit more saturated fatty acids than grazed lamb meat. The PUFA content in muscle from the PG group was higher than that in muscle from the M group, which may be due to the nature of the forage (Dierking, Kallenbach, & Grün, 2010;Lourenco, Van, Vlaeminck, De, & Fievez, 2008;Ponnampalam, Burnett, Norng, Warner, & Jacobs, 2012 PUFAs in the muscle of PG lambs (Faria et al, 2012;Lobón et al, 2017;Ponnampalam et al, 2012).…”

“…Moreover, active ingredients (condensed tannins) in forage effectively reduce the activity of ruminal bacterial and inhibit rumen biohydrogenation, which increases the proportion of PUFAs in animal tissues (Hajji et al, ). Tannins can cause a reduction in Butyrivibrio proteoclasticus , which convert vaccenic acid to stearic acid, thereby potentially resulting in higher levels of PUFAs in the muscle of PG lambs (Faria et al, ; Lobón et al, ; Ponnampalam et al, ).…”

“…Feedlot or housed animal feeding, especially in China, is now being used to maintain an ecological balance and to halt the destruction of the Mongolian grassland. Additional benefits for confined or feedlot feeding of animals include economics due to an increase in weight gain (Crane et al, ), but meat quality can also be affected by the feeding regimen (Duckett, Neel, Lewis, Fontenot, & Clapham, ; Lobón et al, ). For example, Enser et al () reported that lambs fed mixed diet (M) have higher levels of lipid and monounsaturated fatty acids in their muscle, while lambs fed pasture grass (PG) contain higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) including arachidonic acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).…”

The effect of carcass weight on fatness and muscle and fat colour of male Ojinegra de Teruel light lambs

“…All the carcasses in the present experiment were classified as pale pink according to the UE classification of the M. rectus abdominis. The 10-kg and 11-kg carcasses of Rasa Aragonesa were classified as pink because they had high lightness and low chroma values (Ripoll et al , 2014Roche et al 2012;Lobón et al 2017). When the range of carcass weights is wide, there is a clear change in the visually detectable colour of the M. rectus abdominis (Sanz et al 2008).…”

Alfalfa but not milk in lamb's diet improves meat fatty acid profile and α-tocopherol content

“…(flavonoids and/or condensed tannins) and diterpenes as carnosic acid (Muela, Alonso, Campo, Sañudo, & Beltrán, 2014;Ortuño, Serrano, & Bañón, 2015). Dietary alfalfa may be a convenient feedstuff to prevent oxidative damage of meat because it is rich in natural vitamin E although it has low polyphenol content (Lobón et al, 2017b). However, light lambs require milk supply during at least half of their lives; thereby the feeding strategy for light lambs may involve the use of both dietary ingredients (milk and forage).…”